The רמב ן asks: What kind of blessing is this? Why would we be despised if we are trying to do the right thing?

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1 PPROUD*** I S S U E 24 May Parshas Behar- Bechukosai \ I already sent it Hadlakas Neiros:7:37 out. I already sent Havdalah: 8:56 PM it out. YBHighlights ** CALENDAR Sunday, May 5 Bike-A-Thon See attached flyer for details Wednesday, May 8 Yom Yerushalayim Tuesday, May 14 Erev Shavuos Boys Grades :30 PM Dismissal ECD & Girls No sessions Wed., May 15 & Thurs., May 16 Shavuos No sessions Friday, May 17 Isru Chag 10:00 AM start ECD-8th Grade SIYUM CELEBRATIONS WERE HELD IN SEVERAL GIRLS CLASSES THIS WEEK! MORE PICTURES INSIDE! A Message from Our Menahel The Torah says that if the Jewish people keep the mitzvohs of the Torah, there will be much blessing in all they do. The word blessing, bracha, means more abundancy than would naturally be expected. (See the sefer, Nefesh Hachaim, on the topic of bracha as it relates to our daily blessings.) ): כו, אי ( says, Then the Torah I -ונתתי will dwell amongst משכני בתוככם you, תגעל נפשי אתכם and -ולא I won t despise you! Rashi says: אין רוחי קצה בהם -my Spirit is not displeased with them. The רמב ן asks: What kind of blessing is this? Why would we be despised if we are trying to do the right thing? Rav Schwab zt l quotes the גמרא in :מסכת פםחים(נ :) לעולם יעסוק אדם בתורה ובמצוות אע פ שלא לשמה,שמתוך שלא לשמה, בא לשמה. A person should serve Hashem even without the fullest כוונה (thought and focus) for if he,כוונה does so, it will lead to the ultimate.לשמה which is This is okay for the server but for the One being served, Hashem, this is not at all pleasant, as it is not true ה.עבודת Rather, it is serving oneself, since he will be benefitting from it personally. Hashem waits, says Rav לא לשמה Schwab, for the time that the becomes,לשמה but in the interim, it is not to! כאילו רוחי קצה בהם - all His liking at Here is where the blessing is found. Although should despise the lack of service to הקב ה Him, during the לא לשמה period, we are told - I, Hashem, will not ולא תגעל נפשי אתכם look at your actions in such a way. - I will actually dwell ונתתי משכני בתוככם amongst you as if you are already at the!לשמה status of service We look toward יום ירושלים and we wonder how we will ever reach a point when Hashem ירושלים עיר will desire to take us home to Let us draw chizuk from the.הקודש הבנויה fact that we never know how great our good deeds are considered by the מלך רחמן and waive the negative thought of how pure (or impure) our intentions are when we perform mitzvos. Rumor has it Hashem marks on a curve! Good Shabbos! Rabbi Berel Leiner

2 GENERAL STUDIES UPDATE Science fair preparation is certainly taking center stage in the general studies program. The science projects are coming along beautifully with many of the children experiencing learning at a whole new level. With the bulk of the research behind us, most of your children should be ready for experimentation! The experiment will offer you a unique opportunity: a hands-on learning experience for you and your child to enjoy together. While many parents do homework and study for tests with children, those experiences involve the child learning under the guidance (or patrol) of their parent, but the parent does not actually engage in the learning itself. Experiments such as the children are doing now, allow you, the parent, to sit back and observe the results with your child and actually join them in the discovery and learning process. There is an overwhelming amount of research that supports what we all know through common sense: Regardless of a student s abilities or personal circumstances, students with involved parents are more likely to: Earn higher grades and test scores Continue on to higher education programs Engage in learning Have better social skills, and general behavior at school. What does involved mean? When parents talk to their children about their school day, expect them to do well, and make sure that they take the time to do good quality school work, their children perform better in school than children whose parents do not. When parents show interest in what their children are learning and engage them in discussion about the various things they have learned, children do even better. When parents actually engage in the learning process with their children, modeling curiosity and enthusiasm and transforming the learning into an emotionally satisfying experience, those gains are the greatest! The science fair certainly provides a fantastic opportunity and I hope that you will be able to make the experience an enjoyable one, both at the experimentation and discovery phase and in the creative presentation of your findings on the display board. Set the standards high and make the boards beautiful, but remember to keep the endeavor light, fun and pressure free. The key is to balance pride in a job well done with the joy of learning and creating. Then, come join us at the fair which is shaping up to be a night of learning, and family fun! Can t wait to see you there! Have a great Shabbos! Mrs. Estee Hebel General Studies Principal ART CLASS SCIENCE LAB The art teacher is requesting old newspapers be sent in for a project. Unfortunately, the Science Fair display boards are sold out. If you still need one, you can purchase it locally at a STAPLES or OFFICE MAX store.

3 LIMUDEI KODESH UPDATE GIRLS PTA CORNER The count down is under way as we get closer to the Yom Tov of Shavuos! The theme of Don t just count the days, make the days count is being practiced at YBH through the dynamic and beautiful lessons taught by the morahs during these days of Sefirah. Several other initiatives have been introduced over the past few weeks focusing on the middah of achdus, unity, which was a prerequisite for accepting the Torah. As we know, the word used in the Torah for encamped, vayichan, is written in the singular. Rashi says this is because they were as one person with one heart. Rabbi Yitzchok of Vorka noted that the word vayichan also comes from the word chayn, meaning finding favor." The people found favor in the eyes of one another and as a result, found favor in the eyes of Hashem. When you see the good and positive in another person you become closer to them and are able to show them respect and love. To help internalize and emulate this valuable lesson, the fourth and fifth grade girls were introduced to Tiki, an ingenious animated back pack, whose name is short for Hatik Sheli that teaches every child how to succeed at recess play. It is an engaging and hands on program produced by the Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation, which demonstrates how to effectuate the lessons into practice. The girls discussed various recess scenarios and received an exciting collection of cards that help provide strategies for implementing the lessons gleaned. Many of the morahs shared positive feedback with me on their own Ahavas Yisroel sessions with their classes as one of the fundamental values that we strive for in the chinuch our girls. They discussed the concept of Rabbi Akiva s talmidim who were niftar during this period and incorporated this message into their Pirkei Avos lessons. I had the opportunity and pleasure to present a workshop for the fourth grade girls this week. We enjoyed a fun activity together, a skit that demonstrated ways to practice Ahavas Yisroel. The girls acted out a behavior based on what was written on a label on their forehead, which others were able to read, but they themselves were not. A discussion followed in which we recognized that although no one wears a label, we still inadvertently sometimes assign labels to people. The session culminated with the motto "BE SELFLESS NOT SELFISH" and each girl enjoyed yummy jelly fish! Since Lag B Omer came out on Sunday, we enjoyed a post Lag B Omer assembly on Wednesday. The activities were designed to facilitate achdus among the girls by explaining that in order to win, everyone on the team had to participate. Grades 1-3 picked puzzle pieces by colors and formed beautiful pictures of Har Sinai, which are hanging on the second floor hallway walls. They worked together wonderfully in the spirit of achdus and each class sang a song related to friendship at the finale. The upper grades collected logs to build a bonfire and worked together in groups to answer questions about Sefiras Haomer written on the logs. They did an excellent job involving each and every girl to create a beautiful poster with ויחן שם the message of ישראל נגד ההר." The edible bonfire made of pretzels, marshmallow fluff and candy corn was a special treat in addition to the enjoyable activities. May we continue to see much nachas from our girls in this important middah of Ahavas Yisroel and treating each other with proper respect and dignity. Have a wonderful Shabbos, Mrs. Chana Frumit Stern PTA nomination meeting to be held on Monday, May 8:30 PM at the home of Sherry Schwartz 333 Rutherford Blvd. If you are interested in joining next year's board, please contact any one of the current PTA members. MAY LUNCH MENU Monday and Thursday Pizza Day Friday Fresh soft bagel with cream cheese (egg salad or plain bagel) snack bag, fresh fruit\raisins or craisins Wed. May 1 Falafel with whole pita sliced in half, Israeli salad sesame free humus Tues. May 7 Large 7" deli hero with turkey breast & bologna pickles, ketchup & mustard Wed. May 8 Three jumbo pancakes with syrup, dairy side dish Tues. May 14 Erev Shavuos Tues. May 21 Roasted chicken leg and thigh two scoops of white rice ketchup, mustard Wed. May 22 Cheesy ziti with sauce, ketchup Tues. May 28 Large wrap filled with turkey pastrami turkey breast, tossed salad pickles, ketchup, mustard dressing choices on the side Wed. May 29 Two potato knishes dairy side dish mustard & ketchup

4 A Peek Into Our Week: Morah Gold s Kitah Hey: It s been an exciting year in the 5G chumash class! What I love about teaching Chumash Shmos is how things tend to coincide with the.חגים When we learned about החדש,פרשת it was during the week that it was read in shul. Before,פסח we were learning about how B nai Yisrael are told to teach their children about מצרים.יציאת The girls saw the פסוקים about the מתן We will now be learning about.הגדה four sons of the right before Shavuos. It is a pleasure to see how learning תורה from the chumash makes the lessons come alive for the girls! ברכות קריאת we are learning the meaning of באור תפילה In and incorporating them into our tefila as we understand שמע their meaning. May we be zocheh to see the girls appreciate their special opportunities to learn and daven always. Mrs. Aisenman s 4G: Ask any of the girls in 4G to describe a cloud in the sky they will tell you if it s a cumulus (looks like cotton balls), cirrus (feathery), or stratus (flat) cloud. This and so much more was recently learned in our Science Weather unit. We were fortunate to visit Rabbi Wieder s Science Lab, where we learned more about weather and anemometers (an instrument used to measure wind speed). We built our own anemometers and took them outside to try them; unfortunately there was not enough wind in the air, but we will try again! We are also working on our science fair projects. We visited the computer lab to research our projects so we could complete our hypotheses. We will be working on map skills and creating our own island and writing expository essays describing this island. There is so much learning going on in 4G! Mrs. Cherkez s 3G: Spring is in the air and with it comes a lot of enthusiasm and fun learning! Mrs. Cherkez's 3G is buzzing with science fair excitement! Students have chosen their experiments, done some research and written hypotheses for their science fair projects. In the weeks to come, students will be doing more science fair related activities in class including writing and researching. We are looking forward to our upcoming trip to the Sterling Hill Mining Museum on May 13th! This will be a great trip to reinforce all that we have learned about rocks and minerals this past year. In math, students are showing continued mastery of their multiplication facts and are excelling in their newly learned division skills. This month s unit in literacy is all about world cultures. Students have been doing a lot of comparing and contrasting between their culture and those of others in their reading and writing. Way to go 3G! Keep up the great work! Morah Koenigsberg s Kitah Beis: The girls in Kitah Beis continue to excel in their studies. We ve been counting the Omer, learned about and are anticipating Shavuos. We also learned many shorashim in chumash and ivrit. Our Shoresh Train,along with its pictures is getting longer every day! We are constantly practicing, conjugating, and writing with our shorashim to improve our skills. Perhaps you ve heard us singing our beautiful Shemona Esrei songs. We sing the words of each and every bracha and its accompanying English explanation in song; each with its own tune. We are practicing for and looking forward to our upcoming Shemona Esrei performance!! Morah Davis s Kitah Zayin: Eylu ve'eylu divrei Elokim chaim is a concept that 7G has become familiar with this year as we learned chumash with various meforshim. Sometimes a peirush disagrees with Rashi and sometimes it supports Rashi's point. We are comfortable learning a new Rashi on our own and figuring out what's bothering Rashi. We went outside and gathered our own sticks and reinacted the sign that Moshe showed to prove that Shevet Levi is the chosen shevet to perform the avodah in the mishkan. A yummy make your own ice cream sundae siyum with skits in costume was a great way to conclude Pashas Korach. ECD HIGHLIGHTS The Green Thumbs of YBH: The tone has been set. Spring has sprung, Shavuos is right around the corner and this week s parsha tells us about the mitzvah of Shmitah. The children have donned their gloves, examined the soil, and figured out that there are different ways to plant. Nursery R and M classes planted grass seeds in cups, while Pre1A-Z is making grass heads. Nursery M is also planting lima beans with dreams of a delicious cholent as the end result. We are also looking forward to seeing what happens when a lima bean is wrapped in a wet paper towel. Morah Rennerts Pre1A s secret garden is flourishing. They opened up lima beans, examined the insides and planted them. They understand the importance of strong roots as they watch the plants push the soil away in order to come up from the ground. They are measuring their plants weekly to see their progress. Their plants have grown to eight inches tall! Now you know why your children may be asking to plant gardens at home. It is a great activity and a wonderful way for the children to see the wonders of Hashem. Morah Rosenberg s Kitah Daled: Mazal Tov! What a milestone! We made a gala siyum to celebrate completing Pashas Vayigash. We were treated to a beautiful singing performance by Mrs. Sandler, who sang a song about tznius-our mitzvah. We made our own personal pizzas, snow cones and ice cream. We are very proud of our accomplishments!

5 GET READY!! GET SET!! GET SPONSORS!!! FOR THE BEST EVER YBH BIKE-A-THON Riding Times: Sunday, May 5 Third Ward Park by the Duck Pond Boat House. Rain Date: May 13. Registration: Beginning 15 minutes prior to riding times Girls: Grades 1-8: 10:30AM to 12:30 PM Boys: Grades 1-8 1:30PM to 3:00PM Pre1A: Choose either boys or girls session (cycle around the park center circle) Training wheels are permitted but roller blades and scooters are not. Water available for everyone. Helmets are an absolute requirement!!! Prizes! Prizes! Prizes! Prizes! Prizes! Grand Prize for the top YBH fundraiser Gift Certificates for the most laps completed (both boys and girls) Prize for everyone who raises a minimum of $30 dollars Premium level prize for everyone who raises a minimum of $100 dollars To volunteer for the day of the event contact Avi Turkel at (917) or Shmuel and Tamar Schock at (973)